Betsy DeVos

DeVos is Chairman of the Windquest Group, a privately held investment and management firm based in Michigan with a consumer product and service portfolio. She served on the Republican National Committee from 1992 to 1998, and was Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party four times from 1996 to 2005. (Source: Betsy DeVos website, 12/27/2016)

She wants to “reform America’s broken education system by giving parents more options for their children’s education,” and is an advocate for education voucher programs, which she calls “private school choice programs.”

DeVos is married to Dick DeVos. The couple is among the wealthiest 100 families in the United States. They have four children.

Timeline

2001

DeVos argues that the education system can "advance God's Kingdom" by using public funds on private and religious schools.politico.com

The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama administration, loosening rules that spurred broad looks at issues from sexual assault to disciplinary actions.nytimes.com(See also Department of Education)

2017.07.06

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia are suing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Education Department over her decision to roll back rules designed to help students who have been defrauded by their colleges.buzzfeed.com(See also Department of Education)

2017.09.07

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said that her administration would rewrite rules regarding policing campus sexual assault in an effort to protect both the victims and the accused.nytimes.com(See also Department of Education, Women)

2017.10.17

A group of 18 Democratic attorneys general is suing the Trump administration over its oversight of for-profit colleges, saying that the Education Department's refusal to enforce a regulation punishing predatory career programs "leaves students vulnerable to exploitation and fraud."buzzfeed.com(See also Legal Issues, Department of Education)

2017.10.21

The Education Department has rescinded 72 policy documents that outline the rights of students with disabilities as part of the Trump administration’s effort to eliminate regulations it deems superfluous.washingtonpost.com(See also Department of Education)

A company that once had financial ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was one of two firms selected Thursday by the Education Department to help the agency collect overdue student loans, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.washingtonpost.com(See also Department of Education, Conflicts of Interest)

Performant Financial Corp. was one of two firms selected Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education to help the agency collect overdue student loans. The deal with could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

2018.01.25

Victims’ rights and women’s rights groups sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, saying that rules that she issued last year to guide campuses on how to manage sexual assault complaints violated federal law and discriminated against accusers.nytimes.com(See also Women, Department of Education, Legal Activity)

2018.02.12

The Education Department has confirmed that it won't investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity, charting new ground in the Trump administration's year-long broadside against LGBT rights.buzzfeed.com(See also LGBTQIA, Department of Education)